Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Once a deer and a duck were good friends. The deer was fond of the duck, and the duck was fond of the deer.

The deer was fond of galloping in the open range, whereas the duck was content with her pond. The duck knew that the deer wanted to venture far, and frequently told the deer that it was free to go anytime, and that the duck would not give it a hard time.

The deer was fond of the duck and though it wanted to venture far, it also knew that without it the duck would soon be devoured by the vultures. The deer slept fitfully, with dreams of vistas beyond the hills. The duck, though dismayed to keep the deer restrained, was nevertheless pleased that the deer cared for it and was keeping it company. They had promised each other that no matter what happened, they would always meet in the evening and care for and protect each other.

One day the deer went very far and could come only late at night. The duck was filled with an inordinate rage that the deer had forsaken it. While the deer slept, the duck quacked and quacked till her distant friends the wolves came near the pond. The wolves dared not attack the deer on their own but they promised the duck, in their cunning, that they would teach the deer a lesson and make the deer pay for the duck's quacks of misery.

The next day, as the deer was just venturing from the pond, the duck gave a signal to the wolves and their friends, the bloodhounds. There was a great roar all around as the hounds and the wolves ran after the deer. As the deer galloped to safety in a cave, the hounds and the wolves, with saliva dripping from their jaws, set fire to the bushes near the cave. The deer went further and further inside the cave.

Deep inside the cave it found an inscription which simply said, in duck language: "Remember This." It was hungry and thirsty, and the heat from the fires nearby were sucking all air from inside the cave. It started eating the leaves and licking the damp walls of the cave, and fell unconscious as the heat became unbearable.

But it survived.

Many days and weeks and months passed as the wolves and hounds waited for the deer to come out. The duck, with its eyes still blood-red with anger, wanted to know from the wolves if they had killed the deer yet, and the wolves promised it that it was only a matter of time.

In the meanwhile, the deer, inside the cave, found an elixir of strength, a fountain of water so pure that it made the deer lustrous. Even in the dark of the night, the cave shimmered with a slight glow from the deer's body. The deer, not knowing the reality behind the attack, shed tears over what it thought to be the duck's plight, who was alone in its absence.

Many more days, weeks and months passed and the patience of the wolves and of the hounds ran out. They lost interest and assumed the deer was long dead.

As a new day broke over the horizon, the deer saw that there were no moving shadows near the gate of the cave. The wolves and the hounds had left. It came out of the cave, looked at the sky for a long time till its neck hurt, and then walked back to its home near the pond.

The duck saw the deer, became scared that the deer was coming for it, and started quacking again. Once again the wolves and the hounds came running. The deer, for a moment, could not understand what was happening. But then it suddenly realized. Now it realized what the duck had done, and that it was the duck who was behind the attacks.

But this time, the deer was not scared. With an indomitable strength, it stood calmly as the hounds growled and as the wolves bared their teeth and scratched their paws in the ground. The deer, suddenly, started soaring and galloping and wounding the hounds and the wolves with its antlers. It started attacking and killing the hounds and the wolves. Nobody knew what had made the deer so strong, and the duck trembled in fear when it saw that the deer had become immortal, that no blood flowed from its body even when it was wounded.

The battle was soon over, and the deer then turned towards the duck, and looked into its eyes for a long time. With a piercing gaze, it kept looking till the duck could take it no more and begged forgiveness. But the deer had spent so many months on its own now that it had forgotten the duck's language and could not understand what the duck said.

It simply repeated the only phrase of duck-language that it now knew: "Remember This."

The duck then gestured for the deer to come closer and sit down. The deer again looked at the sky, which was clear except a single whiff of a cloud directly above. But it heard a flutter of a great many wings. It galloped away with an effortless grace into the open range, leaving the duck behind, forever.

The duck became despondent and tried looking at the sky to see what the deer had seen, but its neck was too short to look up to see what was coming. But it did not have to wait for long. In a short while, the faint flutter of wings that the deer had heard became a thunderstorm. Thousands of vultures descended near the pond and started devouring the carcasses of the wolves and the hounds. The day became night as they clouded the sun.

If the duck had wolves for friends why the hell did it need the deer to chase away the vultures?

They were not committed friends. The wolves lived in their own clan.

How come the deer did not know that the wolves were friends with the duck?

Because they were wolves in sheep's clothing.

What is the moral of the story: be wary of your friend's wrath?

In a way.

But there is no moral as such. The various aspects of the story include the relationship between the deer and the duck in the first place, the irrational disputes within a relationship, the destruction that follows from that dispute and an overarching rage, and the consequences of a breakdown.

Have you written it yourself?! this is a brilliant story and in consonance with results from AF practice. It also gels well with your earlier entries on similar lines in last month or so. In some ways compliments the song from Gulaal as well.

Solution is so simple that 'reality' blinds us to it. 'Actual confidence' made the deer fight the wolves. Even to use the cliche that fortune favours the brave, the story is exemplary.

well done and thanks for sharing. You should post it on the AF yahoo list as well. best...

Once there was a beautiful lake in which a group of ducks swam together. Among them was a young duck that loved to flap its wings and swim in the lake. Being the youngest, it was protected and taken care of by all other ducks in the lake. it knew nothing of the outside world nor did it wish to explore any further for it was happy - or so it thought.

And then came a golden deer galloping from the deep forest to drink water from the lake. The duck was enchanted by the deer since it had not seen anyone with such energy, galloping so fast in its life. Soon they became good friends.

It was noticed by the other members of the group who did not approve of a duck being friends with a deer. It decided to leave the lake along with the deer and settled in a small pond with the deer near it. They were very happy together and promised not to leave each other ever. They spent days and nights together. However neither the duck nor the deer could loose their true identity. The duck remained a duck and could not learn to gallop like the deer however hard it tried. Soon the deer wanted to gallop deeper into the mysterious forest again and explore new horizons. The duck could read it in its eyes. It did not want to stop the deer from fulfilling it's wishes. But deep down it was dead scared of the deer leave it and go far off. It wanted the deer to be happy - happy living with the duck!!! The ever conflicting feelings tormented it. In certain days it would allow the deer to do what it wanted to and in other days it would quack the whole day if the deer left it even for a while.

One morning the deer left the pond and did not return for a long time....it grew frighteningly dark and the duck was extremely scared. Slowly it overcame the fear but the loneliness became unbearable. It grew furious at the deer and more at itself for missing the deer so much. It realized that the companionship that was so dear to both of them once, did not mean much to the deer any more...it was the burden of the promise that the deer had once made was making it stay with the duck. But the need of the duck was still alive.

With the circles of thoughts going on and on in its mind, it quaked and quacked until a group of wolves came to the pond. The wolves in the pretext of helping the duck promised to teach a lesson to the deer. When the deer came back the next morning, in a fit of rage the duck quacked even louder. The wolves appeared from the bushes and chased the deer away.

For months the duck lived miserably in its lonely pond. It was lonely and heart broken. It remembered the days it spent in the protected lake with all the other ducks. But it didn't want to go back. It was the deer it wanted to live with. It needed and hated the deer at the same time. It cursed itself for calling the wolves and hurting the deer and at the same time it cursed the deer for the loneliness and misery it caused it. It tried hard not to miss the deer but in vain.

Many months passed and finally one fine day the duck saw the deer coming towards the pond....With the continuous thought of having hurt the deer running at the back of its mind, the duck got extremely scared. as an involuntary reaction of saving itself, it quacked louder than ever. The wolves surrounded the pond again.

"But this time, the deer was not scared. With an indomitable strength, it stood calmly as the hounds growled and as the wolves bared their teeth and scratched their paws in the ground. The deer, suddenly, started soaring and galloping and wounding the hounds and the wolves with its antlers. It started attacking and killing the hounds and the wolves. Nobody knew what had made the deer so strong, and the duck trembled in fear when it saw that the deer had become immortal, that no blood flowed from its body even when it was wounded."

The duck felt extremely guilty for what it had done and begged for forgiveness. It tried to explain its own circumstances and the conflicting thoughts that came to its mind and what it went through in those months but the deer did not understand any of it....Suddenly it started galloping towards the forest once again

The duck got anxious and pleaded the deer to come back. but before it could react any further, it was surrounded by thousands of vultures. the vultures left the duck profoundly bleeding and severely injured. It trembled in intense pain. The pain became so intense that it stopped hurting any more. It suddenly realized that it's need and anger for the deer both disappeared completely. it peacefully watched the deer gallop into the forest till its eyes could see no more...